Country with 1.2 billion people can't be ranked 178: Marco Materazzi

Marco Materazzi is not a man to be messed with. The French discovered this in the dramatic 2006 World Cup final in Berlin. Materazzi headed Italy's equaliser in the match. And then he got under the skin of Zinedine Zidane, leading to the legendary headbutt which resulted in Zidane's expulsion. Italy went on to win the title.

The big, heavily tattooed defender is now the manager of ISL side FC Chennaiyin. And Indians are discovering that Materazzi is a straight shooter when it comes to words. Asked what he thought of the Indian national team, he said, via a translator, "A country with 1.2 billion people cannot be ranked 178 in the world. With the help of champions in the sport, we have to make a new beginning, train kids from a young age."

India's current ranking is actually 155. But that hardly dilutes Materazzi's point. Visitors from footballing superpowers are baffled by the lack of a system in Indian football. But insiders know that the real problem here is our officials, for whom development of the sport is not as important as their own selfish interests.